missions mishaps & happenings

Mission Mamas. A mama and I were talking and had the idea of getting mom/kids together once a month and do a service project all together. Actually, my friend got the idea from reading about something Jen Hatmaker does with her kids. We were so proud of ourselves for this wonderful new mission focus. This is going to be fantastic, the kids will be shaped and molded to be mission-minded individuals. Let's do this.

The first one was to stuff our Operation Shoe Boxes

A few highlights of the first go:

-Each child coming to grips that we were not keeping the toys, but they were being sent away to other kids

-Max clinging to my hip & screaming like a deranged spider monkey who was drunk on bad bananas

-We brought a globe from home to show the kids where the boxes were going. New Guinea was a possible location, but no one knew where New Guinea was???

-At one point, someone asked me if I was okay. I said no, I think I need a drink. I don't know what my expression was doing, I thought I was keep pretty calm for a baby screaming in my face, all while instructing the kids to lay their itty bitty hands on their boxes so that we can pray for the precious child who shall receive his/her box.

-Afterwards, Henry stated Wish I was poor and lived in another country, so I could get a shoebox full of toys.

The night after our first go, I kept laughing, laughing at the whole shoebox scene & laughing at how I keep forgetting to keep my expectations LOW with kids and ideas like these. But God reminded me that you gotta keep at it. It is your job to teach them they are not the center of this universe & they need to be in tune with hurt of others. And reminded me that mission mamas is not about the mamas (it needs a new name).

So we went for #2.

The second one was to make Blessing Bags.

I was familiar with this one, actually my friend Jennifer got this project together a couple of years ago. Essentially, you stuff bags up with goodies, keep them in your car & hand them to someone who may need it out on the streets. And after I met Anthony at the Jackson Starbucks, I knew this was the project we needed to do. I go to area wifi spots on my days kid-free and do my graphic design work. So I was enjoying my

few hours in the zone when I noticed a little guy come sit next to me. I didn't automatically know he was homeless when I saw him, but when he sat 2 feet from me-I could not ignore his smell and thus realized he had to be without a home. Goodness. I got fidgety. There I was working on a Christian newsletter for one of my clients and here was a guy 2 feet from me that I needed to acknowledge in a natural, somewhat normal way. I wanted to add something good to his day. So I decided to go get him a coffee. I quietly slid it his way and told him I got this for him. He smiled and went and got 6 splendas and fixed it up right. I introduced myself and that was it. Then my kid-free time was over and went. I can't quit thinking about Anthony and how he needs so much for than just a cup of coffee. Tonight temps are freezing, we brought our plants in. I keep thinking about Anthony. He is cold somewhere-freezing. Tonight,  I went into my closet & closed the door (when I was supposed to be helping with bathtime) and cried thinking of him and so many who are cold to the bone tonight. I found this prayer and said out loud. It was nice to have this beautiful prayer when I was at such a loss. But my addition to this prayer was to let me see the hurting, bring them into my world. Let me not ignore them. I'm praying for another encounter with Anthony. I can get stuck in the sad place-"the why is there so much hurt in the world, Jesus-just come on back NOW" place. I don't want to be stuck, I want to be used by Him. These bags will not make a dent in the hunger/homeless crisis in Jackson, MS. But I pray it will let this person know they are not forgotten or ignored. And I pray it will help my kids look out for the hurting & not be scared to reach out.

 We got our supples: gatorade, nabs, granola bars, snack mix & brown sacks.

 I made these cards for the kids to color and sign their names to, which would be placed in the bags (template below).

 Sweet Ella Kate, stuffing it up.

 

I swiped the post from Ella Kate's mom. Too much going on for me to document it.